Objective: Compose a piece of music that conveys a specific emotion
Emotions and Music
Almost all video game music accomplishes at least one goal: setting the mood of the game. When we write video game music, we can draw the player further into the game simply by writing it such that it matches the mood the game itself is trying to convey. Most games attempt to immerse the player into their world, and music can be a useful tool in accomplishing this. Even if the player doesn't actively listen to the music, it can have a profound effect on the gaming experience.
Analysis
What makes a piece of music become associated with a particular emotion? This is a difficult question, as people tend to perceive music in wildly different manners. That said, there are no formulas for creating specific moods in music. In this first part, you are asked to come up with a few ideas as to what elements cause pieces of music to have their feeling. First, choose a piece of music that you feel exhibits a certain emotion, mood or idea. It need not be a well known song, and would, optimally, not have lyrics. Listen to the song and think of what elements give it its feeling. Listen for things like harmonic elements (major/minor; resolved/unresolved), rhythmic elements (tempo), and instruments used. In a text file, write the name of the song you chose, a paragraph describing what emotion the song is trying to convey, and how you think the composer accomplished this. Make a list of what elements you would use if you had to create a piece with the same mood. Try to be descriptive; don't just use vague words such as "sad" or "happy," but try to quantify it more with specific adjectives such as "longing" or “demented,” or even relate the music to an abstract idea such as "holiness" or "evil". Don't worry if you don't write much; I'm only expecting a short paragraph or two. Also, don't spend a long time trying to figure out the way other people might hear the music. If you hear something, that's good enough.
Composition
Now, compose a piece of music that exhibits the same emotion as the song you chose above, using your list of elements as a guide. I will be grading this as objectively as I can, so think more about whether your song actually follows the musical elements from your analysis and less about whether you think I will be able to find the same emotions as you did. It's okay if your song ends up sounding like the original song, but it is imperative that you DON’T simply copy the song. Your composition must be at least 30 seconds long, but the rest of the musical decisions are up to you.
Saving to MP3
Finally, you must put your song in a format that can be used in a game. MP3 is well known as a format with good compression, and it can be played through GameX, which is important for the purposes of this class. You will first need to export your song as a wave file, and then convert it to MP3. To save as a wave file, use Reason's ‘Export Song as Audio File...” option. (Remember, ‘Export Song’ renders from measure 1 to the ‘E’ marker, while ‘Export Loop’ renders from the ‘L’ to the ‘R’ marker) Next, find a program that can convert waves to MP3s. Musicmatch Jukebox is a popular media player that has a convert option, but barring that, WinLame is a viable choice that you can download online. If you have any problems with this part, feel free to E-mail me or see me at class. Convert your song and give it a name.
Submission
You must submit a zip file containing the Reason and MP3 file of your composition, along with a text file that contains the name and analysis of the song you chose. If possible, include this song as well, but it is not necessary. This project will be mainly graded on:
Please use CMS to turn in your files.
This lab project is due Friday, September 22nd by 11:59pm.